Technology in the Classroom

I have to admit, I really struggled with this topic.  I think school supplies and I think.. oh yay.. talking about pencils, papers and glue.  BIG YIP! How in the world can I make THAT topic exciting?   Should I talk about how I organize them?  Should I talk about the differences in pencils when it comes to doing art?  Hmm...

I sat and pondered.  Thinking about what school supplies would I prefer to not live without.
Then it hit me.

My cell phone!  My Laptop!  The Tablets!   Seriously...this tech I would not want to be without.

If I combine them with my boy and his questions, and me and my ingenuity... we have a workable solution for our homeschooling needs.

YES we still need paper, printers, pencils, pens, erasers, glue and what not...but in the end.. what we really would have a hard time living without for our schooling purposes is the internet and how it comes through in the cell phone, laptop and tablet.

These three items make our schooling so much easier.

Review: Secrets and Sequences

Do you want a painless way to interest your students or children in coding?   Secret Coders has come out with a series of graphic novels to intrigue and entertain.   Mystery mixed with coding.  It's a good thing eh?   Last year I reviewed another Secret Coders book, and today I have Secrets and Sequences to share with you.   Learn coding through reading a graphic novel!   Neat Idea eh? 

Hopper and the gang have a mystery to solve.  What's going on with Professor Bee, who is one-zero and still.. where is Hopper's Dad?   Will they get closer to figuring this out?

As the gang works through the mystery they make new friends (who would have thought!) but danger does make for strange bed fellows.  :)   They learn how to code better (even Josh) and before you know it, they have worked out more of the mystery's answers!  WOOT WOOT!!!

They learn to work together all the better, though sometimes it's not so easy.

I love how the graphics are simple and not hard on the eyes like the graphic novels of old.   These are clearly legible, with simple colours that don't detract from the storyline.

This graphic novel does what many do well... leave you hanging so you want to get the next book so you can solve the mystery.   Will they be able to see it through?   Will the gang solve the code?

Do I recommend it?
For sure.  It's an easy read that introduces coding to your students AND if they decide they are interested, they can visit the secret coders website and learn more!  Pretty cool that!  :)

Title: Secrets and Sequences
Author: Gene Luen Yan
Illustrator: Mike Holmes
Series: Secret Coders
Publisher: First Second Books
Pages: 112
Age: 8-12 years
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books



 Where can you find it?
 Amazon.ca - Secret Coders: Secrets & Sequences

 Amazon.com - Secret Coders: Secrets & Sequences

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Review: Compuscholar, Inc.

In this day and age of technology at our fingertips, solid computer skills are an essential part of learning, and the new Digital Savvy course from CompuScholar, Inc. provides excellent instruction in fundamental computing topics.

My son has been using the computer for quite some time now, but there is so much that he doesn't understand about them, so when the chance came up for him to learn more about them, I totally jumped on it.  :)   Digital Savvy is teaching him so much about computers, it's neat to see his understanding deepen.

How does this online program work?
After you log into this online computer skills class you come to the main screen which outlines what the student will be learning.   The main title is clickable and will lead you to the lessons for the week.

 Twenty five lessons plus supplemental lessons.  Each lesson is clearly delineated with options for doing video and/or a written lesson, along with a quiz.  Five lesson in one week. Making it easy to complete one chapter per week, the lessons are short enough you can do two or more a day, along with the application part and the weekly test. 

Twenty three chapters of lessons, along with one mid-term project and one final project.

• Fundamentals of Computer Hardware
• Fundamentals of Computer Software
• Operating Systems
• Computer Files
• Computer Maintenance and troubleshooting
• Computer Networks
• Search Engines
• Computer Security
• Word processing
• Spreadsheet programs
• Presentation programs
• Database technology
• Project management and teamwork
• Digital Images
• Internet Communications
• Social Media
• More Social Media
• Creating Web Pages
• Web Links, Images and Animation
• Programming Concepts
• Digital Logic
• Careers and Professional Skills

One of the things I like is that the lessons aren't all just learn this, learn that, here's a test.   At the end of the week that have a practical component to help bring all the parts of the lesson together.  It helps cement the weeks lessons.

The quiz and tests are handled the same way, with multiple choice questions.
They clear show if you have the answer correct or not.

Marking is a breeze, the program doing it all for you, with the exception of the practical component (which encourages parental involvement eh?)  :)   Checking them over means I can say to the lad... that lesson 3...I think redoing that one might be a good idea eh?   (and have a sheepish boy go ...I didn't like that one, but okay).

So far this computer science course is proving to be helpful to my lad, giving him a way to use computer language as he talks with his dad (who knows so much about computers it makes my head spin).  :)  It is so great to find a program that will continue the connection between a dad and his lad, and if my son has any questions he can turn to his dad for advice, I do have to admit though, he hasn't needed much help at this point (beyond how to do the practical application and the one lesson redo).

Marking projects is easy to do.  You simply go into your account as teacher, and mark the project using a rubric.

 You will find in the teachers area that there are all sorts of helps, professional development courses.   If you look under common administrative features it will bring up videos on  Grading students project, Using the Gradebook, Adding sibling accounts and more.



My Thoughts:
Other than when my lad complains about needing to read the student text (because he missed something in the test and needs to correct it) I don't hear a lot of "Do I have to do this?"   I have a lad eager to complete the material and who talks about what he is learning.  That to me is a sign of elective that is enjoyed.   It's been a great way for him to do some computer learning.   We'll be finishing this course.

He has commented that he would like the chapter lessons to note which lessons he has completed.  He wishes the check marks would change colour when that days lesson is completed.

My son's comments:
"I like that they have video lessons.  The lessons are interesting and relatively fast to do.  I try to not have to read the student text book though."

Product: Digital Savvy
Vendor: CompuScholar, Inc. (formerly Homeschool Programming)
Ages: Grades 6-12
Type: On-line Product

We reviewed three courses:
Digital Savvy 
Web Design
Java Programming

100 reviewers have been using CompuScholar, Inc. products.  Read reviews here or click below. 

Social Media Links: 
Homeschool Programming
Facebook – www.facebook.com/HomeschoolProgramming
Twitter – https://twitter.com/HSProgramming   @hsprogramming

CompuScholar, Inc
https://www.facebook.com/CompuScholar
https://twitter.com/CompuScholar   @compuscholar

 Hashtags: #hsreviews  #computerprogrammingforkids #codingforkids #computerskills

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time/

Today we played and well... survived. :)

So I had a set back with the whole flu thing today.   I think I pushed myself too hard yesterday.   Hubby was very quiet today, and by night fall the lad was running a fever.  HOPING that no one else gets as sick as I've been, time will tell.

anyways, we did manage to do some homeschooling today.

First off we made some cheese.  The finished product was NOT appreciated by one boy child, hubby said. ... eh.. it's okay, and I thought it was perfectly edible, but needed to be squeezed more.

We did this math thing that we got.  Valentines Subtraction Minus One. i found out about it through this site from Fern Smith who is also on Pinterest.    She has other freebies as well so go check them out if you want.

And then I let the boy do some learning on the computer...of all the games he played on this site called cool math 4 kids., snail bob 2 was his favourite.  He really needed to do some problem solving to figure it out.  Good to see a lad think.  He often was tempted to give up, and sometimes I'd help him, but other times I'd just offer some verbal encouragement.  He played a few others as well. 

so that basically was our day.  Not great, but not horrid...and something is better than nothing right?  :)